When India last had an umpire on the ICC elite panel, the country had just returned from a tour of Pakistan, Sourav Ganguly was the national cricket captain, and Virat Kohli was just a regular Delhi adolescent commuting between school and Feroz Shah Kotla. The landscape of cricket – and sportsmen – has altered considerably in the last 11 years. Since former World Cup skipper Srinivas Venkatraghavan quit the panel in 2004, the noticeable absence of an Indian in the exclusive club of international umpires has not changed.
The Elite Panel was established in 2002, although just one Indian has served on it: Venkatraghavan, who served from 2002 to 2004. There are no Indians on the current panel, which consists of four Englishmen, four Australians, and one representative from each of New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Even the West Indies, with Steve Bucknor of Jamaica and Billy Doctrove of Dominica, have had more umpires than India.
While not being a member of the club does not always imply a lack of skilled umpires, being a member does establish an official as one of the greatest in the world of cricket. Are Indian umpires, on that point, not among the finest in the world?
Between 2004 and today, India may have won practically everything there was to win on the field. Off the field, India’s Board of Control for Cricket has progressively gained its authority, influence, riches, and dominance. The caliber of umpiring and the perception of Indian umpires are the only areas where the cricket-crazed country has remained stagnant, if not declining. Several Indian players have a low impression of their own country’s umpires, a fact acknowledged by Australian Taufel, who has been coaching and mentoring the BCCI’s Elite panel of umpires.
Of course, it would be far more difficult for MS Dhoni to ‘slam’ Tendulkar or Dravid for a potentially questionable judgment than it was for him to turn on Richard Illingworth.
Dhoni lamented the judgment at the post-match ceremony after the English umpire called Chennai opener Dwayne Smith LBW. Despite expanding their participation in the league over the years, Indian umpires in the IPL 2015 have not had it easy. But, on a global scale, what does this mean? Perhaps a harbinger of better things to come, but only a harbinger. A relatively unknown S Ravi overseeing an England and Sri Lanka match at The Lord’s lately may be a sure-shot declaration.
Ravi is one such example. India has the reserves; what it lacks in finesse, which is where someone like Taufel, a five-time ICC Umpire of the Year, can make a difference. After all, while one can dazzle on the field and dominate off it, the true lords of the sport have always been, and will always be, the guys who decide who is and isn’t allowed to play.
